Contemporary Literature and Fiction Trivia

1. Which William Styron novel, with an opera and film by the same name, weaves a story about a Holocaust survivor? Choose wisely!

From Quiz Newer Books that Inspired Operas

Answer: Sophie's Choice

Best-selling novel "Sophie's Choice" was published in 1979. It centered around three characters in a New York boarding house, Singo (an author), Nathan Landau and Sophie Zawistowska (an unmarried couple). Nathan was a Jewish-American and Sophie was a Polish-Catholic Holocaust survivor, not Jewish. As the story unfolded, Nathan was found to be a fraud and Sophie divulged traumatizing and heart-wrenching secrets she had carried since Auschwitz. There was controversy over the book. The author, William Styron, viewed that the Jews were not the only focus of Nazis. He argued in essays and his story-telling that Auschwitz was anti-Christian as well as anti-Semitic. He agreed with the world views that Nazis were evil but argued they spared no religion, all men were equally in danger from the Nazis. The film of "Sophie's Choice" was nominated for five Academy awards. Meryl Streep won "Best Actress" for her magnificent performance. British composer Nicholas Maw took six years to write the opera. He was both the composer and the librettist for "Sophie's Choice". It opened at the Royal Opera House in London on December 7, 2002. With mixed reviews and complaints of a "long" opera at four hours, it was reduced to three hours for the US. It opened in Washington DC at the Washington National Opera in 2006. "Sophie's Choice" had productions in Berlin and Austria also. Jaknginger of Phoenix Rising's Red Crew added this question to the team quiz.

From Quiz Notable But Neglected

Answer: Emperor Claudius of Rome, fourth in the line of Roman emperors

Although "I, Claudius" is fiction, Graves' work follows the Roman historians Suetonius and Tacitus in their accounts of Claudius and his times. Claudius himself wrote history, including an actual autobiography, now lost. Graves has Claudius tell us that the first autobiography was necessarily dull, for political reasons, but, he says, this one is different: "My hope is that you, my eventual readers of a hundred generations ahead or more, will feel yourselves directly spoken to, as if by a contemporary."

From Quiz 20th Century Fiction

Answer: To Kill A Mockingbird

"To Kill A Mockingbird" was the first and only (to date) novel written by Harper Lee. It is considered a defining work in US literature, and addresses issues including latent racism and the loss of innocence - as seen through the eyes of the seven-year-old girl 'Scout'.

From Quiz Twentieth Century Books

Answer: Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe"

It is the retelling of Crusoe's shipwreck, put to use to evaluate the different aspects of human life and thought. "Friday, or, The Other Island" won the Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française in 1967.

From Quiz Twentieth Century Literature of the Americas

Answer: Robertson Davies

Davies' (1913-1995) works deal with such diverse topics as Canadian culture, life in small-town Canada, Jungian psychology, espionage, art forgery, and magic, to name a few. Consequently, some of his novels, particularly those in the Deptford Trilogy, mix various well-established genres -- mystery, fantasy, romance -- to forge a new one, described by critics and scholars as "Canadian Gothic".

From Quiz New Classics in Literature

Answer: Robert

Robert Langdon is his full name. In the book, he solves puzzles and riddles. The book came out in 2003.

From Quiz Books Through Teenagers

Answer: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

'One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich' was written by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in 1962 and concerns... well, the title says it all. Ivan is a prisoner in the Soviet gulag system ("the cold"- the prison was in a frigid part of Russia) who works building houses ("tar"). Other prisoners have Bibles, but claim not to, and the most severe form of punishment is being thrown in 'the hole' ("doesn't want to fall down something").

From Quiz Olympia Press

Answer: Paris

Although Maurice Girodias, the founder of Olympia, grew up in the UK, his mother was French and he was familiar with the country. Publishing English-language books in France allowed him to evade both British and French censors who attempted to restrict certain publications.

From Quiz Recent Authors

Answer: Arthur Golden & Golden

A hugely popular book....one to recommend if I can't think of anything else. Problem is, most people have read it.

From Quiz New-Age Writers are Great Fun

Answer: Big Thumbs

Tom Robbins is one of the funniest and best writers of the new age.

From Quiz Literature of the last 50 years

Answer: The Recognitions

This book was written by William Gaddis, two-time winner of the National Book Award, who died in 1998.

From Quiz Classic Contemporary Novels

Answer: 1984

George Orwell's "1984" was mostly written during 1948 and was first published in 1949. George Orwell also wrote 'Animal Farm' which was a parable about Communism.

From Quiz Remo And Chiun

Answer: Uncle Sam Beasley

Death really did not do him any favours!

From Quiz Newer Books that Inspired Operas

Answer: Danny

"The Shining" is a Stephen King horror novel that is set in an isolated hotel in Colorado where budding author Jack (hired as the caretaker), his wife Wendy, and son Danny are the only occupants over winter. Just before the last of the employees and guests leaves for winter, cook Halloran recognises that Danny has the same telepathic powers as himself. He tells Danny "If there is trouble...you give a call." As both Jack and Danny are troubled by the ghosts of past hotel guests, Jack goes mad and attacks his family. Danny's ability to contact Halloran telepathically ultimately saves Danny and Wendy. As unlikely as it seems, an opera based on the novel "The Shining" was a success when it debuted in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 2016. Paul Moravec was the composer and Mark Campbell was the librettist. The original idea for an opera based on the novel was the brainchild of Eric Simonson, a Minnesota Opera director (who directed the first production) and Minnesota Opera Artistic Director Dale Johnson. The music and libretto took three years to complete. The brief was to stay more closely to Stephen King's novel than the 1980 movie of the same name. The opera premiered at Ordway Music Theater, Saint Paul, Minnesota in May 2016 with baritone Brian Mulligan and soprano Kelly Kaduce as the leads. The entire run was sold out. Another of Stephen King's novels, "Dolores Claiborne" (1992), was also made into an opera by San Francisco Opera in 2013. This question was written by 1nn1 of Phoenix Rising.

From Quiz Twentieth Century Books

Answer: Edinburgh

The characters in "Trainspotting" are mostly residents of Leith, which is the port of Edinburgh.

From Quiz New Classics in Literature

Answer: Kite & kite

This story led people to learn more about Afghanistan. Amir is the main character in this story. Khaled Hosseini also wrote "A Thousand Splendid Suns."

From Quiz Best Selling Fiction 2000-2009

Answer: Good Harbor

"Choosing a Jewish Life" and "Saying Kaddish" are two of Diamant's non fiction works on Contemporary Jewish living. "The Last Days of Dogtown" is her 2005 third novel.

From Quiz Books Through Teenagers

Answer: I Am Legend

'I Am Legend' was written by Richard Matheson. It concerns Robert Neville, the last man on earth. Well, not the last person- the rest have been taken over by a vampire 'bug' that causes them to... well, it's descriptive enough. At night, he barricades himself inside his house, and they try to kill him, egged on by the shouts of Ben Cortman ("Come out, Neville!"- 'one of them thinks the guy's gay!')

From Quiz Olympia Press

Answer: Lolita

Published in 1955, "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov is about a man named Humbert Humbert and his infatuation with the 12-year-old girl Lolita. At the time, Olympia was the only publisher who would print Nabokov's controversial manuscript, but he was later able to secure a more lucrative contract with Putnam. "A Clockwork Orange" was turned into a film by Stanley Kubrick, but it is by Anthony Burgess. "My Life and Loves" was written by Frank Harris, and Ray Bradbury authored "Farenheit 451". All four books, however, have been banned or restricted at some point in their histories.

From Quiz Fiction from the last 20 years (roughly!)

Answer: The Handmaid's Tale

It's a brilliant book, by the way.

From Quiz Recent Authors

Answer: 3

Although Tolkien always envisaged 'The Lord of the Rings' as a single work, it was originally published in three smaller volumes, for practical reasons. They are 'The Fellowship of the Ring', 'Two Towers' and 'Return of the King'. Each volume is composed of two sections, referred to as books. 'The Hobbit' is not considered part of 'The Lord of the Rings', although it shares some characters and events with the trilogy. Tolkien's original vision of a single volume containing all six sections was achieved in the 50th Anniversary Edition, published in 2004.

From Quiz Literature of the last 50 years

Answer: Snow Crash

By Neal Stephenson

From Quiz Classic Contemporary Novels

Answer: Brave New World

Although Aldous Huxley was not primarily a writer of science fiction, 'Brave New World' is probably his best known work.

From Quiz Remo And Chiun

Answer: Jeremiah Purcell

The Dutchman

From Quiz Newer Books that Inspired Operas

Answer: Amy Tan

Amy Tan's first novel was "The Joy Luck Club". It was published in 1989. Her fourth novel, "The Bonesetter's Daughter", was published in 2001. Like her first three novels, this story is woven in part from Amy's life as a Chinese-American woman born to a Chinese immigrant mother, Daisy. This novel covers different locales and time periods in the life of character Ruth Young and her mother LuLing. The story is of a woman's struggle dealing with her mother's dementia in San Francisco, but also her mother's early life in China. The opera with the same title premiered in 2008 in San Francisco. It was commissioned by the San Francisco Opera. Ms Tan wrote the libretto and Stewart Wallace was the composer of this opera which included a prologue and two acts. Phoenix Rising's jaknginger has added Amy Tan novels to her "must read" list.

From Quiz Twentieth Century Books

Answer: A Confederacy of Dunces

"A Confederacy of Dunces" was written in the sixties and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1981, twelve years after John Kennedy Toole's death. It was published through the efforts of his mother. "The Neon Bible" is the book Toole wrote when he was 16, it has also been published. A Place to Bury Strangers is a New-York based band. "A Clockwork Orange" was written by Anthony Burgess.

From Quiz New Classics in Literature

Answer: Water For Elephants

This story tells the story of Jacob Jankowski, who reminisces about his time working at the circus. It was on the "New York Times" Best Seller List for 12 weeks in 2006.

From Quiz Best Selling Fiction 2000-2009

Answer: Mark Haddon

Much of his writing is for children, including his "Agent Z" series.

From Quiz Books Through Teenagers

Answer: The Catcher in the Rye

If you don't know about JD Salinger's 'The Catcher in the Rye', you're missing out, so I won't even bother with information here. On the reading lists of high schools everywhere.

From Quiz Olympia Press

Answer: Samuel Beckett

Samuel Beckett was an Irish playwright, but his Olympia-published trilogy (in addition to "Waiting for Godot" and other works) was originally written in French. He himself translated "Malone Dies" and "The Unnamable" for their Olympia publication, and he collaborated on the translation of "Malloy" with Patrick Bowles.

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